eattheyuppies writes: Back in January a well-known local professional, Owen Young, suddenly went missing. There was a flurry of media reports on his case, including some chatter on cvillenews. Some of the reports cited a claim that a suspicious black man was seen driving Mr. Young’s car. (It’s always the black male who gets blamed, ain’t it Shiflett?!) Members of Young’s church eventually held a memorial service for him and many gave him up for dead. Fast forward 7 months. Over a week ago, there was a small blurb in the Daily Progress saying that Young had turned up safe and sound in Tampa, FL. It seems odd that there has been no other public discussion of this rather remarkable turn of events, no chatter here on cvillenews, no follow-up articles in the Hook, no nothing. Isn’t anyone curious to know what this guy’s been up to these 7 months, why and how he disappeared and abandoned his life here and all of his commitments here, what the reaction of his family and friends has been to this news, etc., etc.? Is he a great swindler, did he have a fit of amnesia, or…? Inquiring minds want to know!

If somebody could provide a citation for this Progress blurb — or, better yet, a full quote — it’d be appreciated, since I didn’t see it and it’s not on their website.

9 Responses to “Owen Young Found?”

I read about this on NBC 29’s site more than a week ago when Mr. Young was located, but I was hoping no one would bring it up here. He’s been found; it’s over; his reasons are nobody’s business but those to whom he is obligated. I feel bad for his family and was glad to see only minimal coverage until the Hook piece came out yesterday. I for one hope this "news" dies quickly.

I read about this on NBC 29’s site more than a week ago when Mr. Young was located, but I was hoping no one would bring it up here. He’s been found; it’s over; his reasons are nobody’s business but those to whom he is obligated.

Wow, bullshit!

His reasons were nobody’s business up until the moment he and his family began wasting the police’s, the media’s and the public’s time and resources on his bogus disappearance. Not to mention that all of black Charlottesville was implicitly blamed for what turns out to be one guy’s flake-out.

During the course of a conversation I had with a staffer employed by the Daily Progress, I came to an idea of where Mr. Young has been.

It was suggested, during my conversation with this print raconteur, that Mr. Young disappeared with the 20-something son of a friend of his. Apparently, there was some sort of fall-out between Mr. Young and the boy’s father, a man with whom Mr. Young had an interesting relationship — one that would have scarce seen print in this small town. The son went with him only as a way to leave town, as I understand it. After taking jobs down there, the escapade came to a close when the steely determination of the afformentioned young man ran short, and he called home crying.

To be honest, that seems to be a stretch. For all I know, the whole conversation could have been misheard through the wool pulled over my eyes. Take the whole thing for what its worth — hopefully, an official story will clear all of this up.

In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #

Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on four six and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #

The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #